Newb Help

[Hillbilly_Hercules]

Hello newbie here,

I will start with my general stats. I am 31 years old, 6' tall, and as of right now 250 lbs. Normally I am around 180 - 200 lbs depending on how active I am, but as of the last 2 or 3 months I have packed on some weight. I have started working out and exercising more intenesly, but as of my last doctors appointment I hadnt lost any weight. I know that isnt too much of a concern, but my waist line has changed at all. Plus the doctor said my blood results show I have Hypothyroidism, which was causing me to be lethargic and gain weight.

Its been almost 2 months now of going to the gym 5 days a week, lifting a muscle group per day and hitting cardio as well. Still no change. I have a healthy-ish diet, my excercise / lifting routine is decent, but I have not seen any change in my over all body weight. I have had decent strength gains.

My exercise / weight routine is pretty basic. Lift 5 days a week, with weekends off due to working long hours, and cardio 5 days a week as well. My cardio is done after my lifts and consists primarily of elliptical and recumbent bike. Recumbent bike I ride at a fast pace for 3 miles, then hit the elliptical for another 15-20 minutes. After that I will hit the pool for some laps if I have time. I hit the cardio pretty intensely, keeping my heart rate up, working up a good sweat, and usually last half mile on the bike + elliptical is done at sprint speed.

I edited out the non workout portion of the post and putting it in the designated forum.

[energizer bunny]

ok mate........you should post your steroid question in the steroid QA section..the first forum at the top...you will get more help up there with that....

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=323516 watch these vids mate they will give you a good knowledge on what you should be doing.....then post a diet up in the diet section (not this one this is workout section)

your diet def needs looked at........about the training...can you do a.m cardio?...how much cardio do you do? do you do cardio before or after weights? what intensity do you do it at?how many days a week?

[Hillbilly_Hercules]

Cardio in the am will be hard for me to do because of working late shifts. Earliest I get up is around 10 am, unless I want to get less than 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

As for the cardio I typically do it 4 or 5 days a week, usually skipping the day I lift legs. I take Sat - Sun off from the gym as I work long hours on the weekends an use those days to recover. My cardio at the moment consists of 3 miles on the recumbent bike, 15-20 minutes on the elliptical, and if I have time spend 30 minutes in the pool swimming laps. I do go pretty intense on the cardio, getting my heart rate up and working up a nice heavy sweat. On both the bike and elliptical the last half mile I do at a sprint pace.

Too much / too little?

[energizer bunny]

this is what i do and it works and i also enjoy it now........a.m cardio 5 days a week for 45 mins....heart rate between 115-135 BPM and after weights for 30mins HR at 115-135 BPM......i purchased my heart rate monitor off ebay for £10.....

heres a link to some fitness calculators..http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=305360

[Hillbilly_Hercules]

Thanks for al the help.

I already have a display to monitor my BPM and push anywhere between 120-140 BPM depending on the intensity I do.

Again doing am cardio is almost out of the question because of the messed up schedule I have to keep. Right now I am doing about 30-40 mins cardio after my workouts. I have thought about getting the P90X system and doing that when I get home from work. I have heard good things about the P90X but not sure if that would just be over kill.

[Klimax]

Did your doctor prescribe you a drug to heal hypothiroidism?

[Hillbilly_Hercules]

The doctor put me on Synthroid 25 mcg. I go back in November for more blood work to determine if they need to up the dosage. I have been taking the Synthroid for about 2 weeks now.
The doctor did say thats the main reason I have put on a bit of budge lately and its mostly in my mid section. My face, arms and legs look fairly normal. But after 2 months in the gym I am not seeing any change in my waist line. I really need to make a post in the diet forums to get advise on that, but my biggest concern is not eating enough.